BARGAIN BITE: Brazil Cafe

Published 4:00 am, Wednesday, October 17, 2007

The new Brazil Cafe restaurant has been open for about two months on Shattuck Avenue in Berkeley, Calif. on Saturday, Oct. 6, 2007.
PAUL CHINN/The Chronicle

The new Brazil Cafe restaurant has been open for about two months on Shattuck Avenue in Berkeley, Calif. on Saturday, Oct. 6, 2007.
PAUL CHINN/The Chronicle

Photo: PAUL CHINN

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Pedro Robin, who owns the Brazil Cafe stand on University Avenue and new restaurant around the corner on Shattuck Avenue, holds one of his famous tri-tip sandwiches in Berkeley, Calif. on Saturday, Oct. 6, 2007.
PAUL CHINN/The Chronicle
**Pedro Robin less

Pedro Robin, who owns the Brazil Cafe stand on University Avenue and new restaurant around the corner on Shattuck Avenue, holds one of his famous tri-tip sandwiches in Berkeley, Calif. on Saturday, Oct. 6, ... more

Photo: PAUL CHINN

BARGAIN BITE: Brazil Cafe

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Brazil Cafe This is the restaurant that tri-tip built - as in chunks of chewy beef cut into cubes and browned, then piled on a soft, fresh-baked French roll with grilled onions and doused with a deliciously pungent but balanced garlic-cilantro sauce ($6.95).

It would be impossible to figure out how many of these sandwiches have poured, along with the nonstop strains of samba and bossa nova, out of this funky, lively stand since Pedro Robin put it up in the parking lot of a downtown Berkeley paint store seven years ago.

But it's enough that a second, indoor Brazil Cafe opened two months ago just around the corner on Shattuck Avenue. While Pedro holds court at the stand, his sister, Diva, keeps an eye on the nine tables in the cafe, where it's all about bold colors, danceable music - and the tri-tip.

Both locations offer other sandwiches - crunchy chicken salad, tuna, tarragon chicken and vegetarian choices built around ricotta and avocado ($5.95-$6.95). But it's the tri-tip that's Brazil Cafe's claim to fame, and rightfully so. The regular version is perfect; if you have to, you can add cheese, olives, pineapple and jalapeños for prices up to $8 for all four.

There are also salads and entrees. And the indoor cafe offers five panini ($6.95-$8.35), including roast beef and tuna melt, and a daily Taste of Brazil special - bacalahau on Wednesday and feijoada on Saturday, for example.

Wash it down with a mango smoothie ($2.99), icy and not too sweet, or one made from acai ($4.75).

The future of the stand has been up in the air since the paint business moved away. But now, with Mike's Bikes moving in, Robin says the stand's future is secure.